Piringa
by Negare
Summary: Mirrorverse. The fourth story in Rangimarie's journey through the Autobot created hell. Not suitable for kiddies.
1. Chapter 1

**Piringa**

(Hiding Place)

**Chapter One**

She knew she was dreaming. She was caught in that state of sleep where she was somewhat aware of her surrounds and the realism it oozed and the instance of mind when she was somewhere else.

A day she knew she would never forget, but wanted so desperately too.

"He's currently afebrile with his WBC decreasing; all other obs are stable within normal parameters. You still want to admit?"

"Have you heard from ultrasound?"

"Yeah. They said they're rushed off their feet. The gynae ward has a lot of miscarriages that they need to check to see if any of them need a D&C. And since his obs are stable they're not to keen to get him down there".

"This is exactly why I fucking hate the public health system".

"Well, its certainly better then most systems".

"Not according to what I've heard you say about your home".

"Hey, my country has its problems too".

"Not like this I bet".

"You'd be surprised… anyway, you want to admit him or not? I was talking to the duty manager, she says there's a few beds up on ortho that could be used as an out lye, but they wouldn't be able to keep him for more then a few days".

"I'm sure we'd have figured out if he's an appendix by then, okay, get a luer in, run some fluids, saline and dex should do it, and send him up".

"Right on it… oh, and that man in six? The one with the lower GI bleed, he's been ordered a few units of blood but the consent hasn't been done, can you do that for me since the Reg is in such a foul mood?"

"Sure, no worries… his notes in with him?"

"Nah, they're in the nurses' station".

"Okay, I'll do it for you, but I've got go I&D one spectacular looking boil, but I'll get it done after that – then I've got some mechanic in three with chest pain and a history of angina".

"Is that guy with the strange name? Sparkle?"

"Ah… I'm not sure, but he's wearing the blue pants and white shirt, has a yellow hard hat in the locker".

"Oh yeah, I think his problem is he's anxious about his son, apparently his teenaged boy took off into the forest out the back of their property and hasn't been seen since three days ago".

"Well, that's enough to give any angina prone father a chest pain… hey, maybe you could do the ECG and then I can concentrate on the woman in 12 with the bloody necrosis to her veins thanks to the damn IV drug use".

"Sure, sounds good".

Rangimarie liked him. She'd found the doctors in America to be a somewhat varied bunch. The way it was in her homeland, doctors were polite to nurses because they knew if they rubbed them the wrong way they'd never get anything done. But in America, doctors tended to look down their noses at the RNs. Of course,

Rangimarie also found this doctor to be very approachable and understanding, and he certainly never got pissey if an RN needed something no matter how busy he was. He was single too. Of course, Marie's like of him was based greatly on his work ethic and professionalism. Yet if something else came of their occasional coffee meets and the few movies they'd seen led to something else, well, she wouldn't be to adverse to that.

The nurse placed the files down on the desk in the nurses' station and looked up at her friend.

"Could I get a check for IVAB, sister?"

She asked with a smirk.

"Sure, what you got?"

"Flucox, 1.2g, which is an odd dose".

"Yeah, did you check with the doctor?"

"Yip, he said it was a loading dose… I asked him if he meant Augmentum, but he said Flucox, then I rung pharmacy to make sure, and they're happy, so if you're happy to check then I'm happy to admin".

"Okay, well, if pharmacy know then I guess that's okay".

"Its for that woman in 17 with the infected ring finger. Man, its funny what some people will do – she sliced her finger when she was trying to get her wedding ring off with a fork she found on the floor of a restaurant! She saw some guy she liked but who didn't know she was married!"

"Hahaha! Real? Gee, Marie, you've been getting all the freaks lately!!"

"Anyway, did you sort out that mess with Mr. Radely after all that?"

"The guy who sustained a fractured right NOF"

"Yeah, I heard he ended up in CCU and it hadn't been handed over that he had the fracture".

"Turns out that someone had left the X-rays and notes about the break in someone else's notes and it took them ages to figure out where they belonged. But he's okay now, he was pretty immobilised, not to mention doped up".

"True. True. He was in AF, right?"

"Yeah, they wanted him on telemetry for a few days that's why he went to CCU".

"I heard his wife tell the doc that he's been in AF for years and that his GP isn't to concerned. Besides, the guy should be palliative, why are they pissing about with telem and HRs?"

"I dunno, someone said something about just fixing it, or keeping him in traction in a hospice".

"If they can get a bed".

"Well, yeah, goes without saying".

Marie got her checked, gave a chuckle.

"I'll catch up with you later, better go give this".

She waved the small bottle of powdered antibiotic.

--

Marie knelt by the side of the pt's bed giving the IVAB via slow push. The pt seemed a little embarrassed about her reason for being here. The nurse picked up on that and began a conversation about the weather, it was going well. She unscrewed the syringe that had held the AB and stood.

"Okay, this is just some salty water I'm going to push into the luer now, it's just going to wash any of the AB out of the plug and into your body, okay?"

The patient nodded in the affirm. She'd just finished giving the flush when one of her fellow sisters came in through the curtain.

"Marie! We've got an emergency, some sort of terrorist attack in the city, people are coming in now, we gotta clear out some of these non-urgents. Get the orderlies up here to help move some beds into the corridors, then get into the rescus bay and start priming lines!"

The ex-pat turned; nodded quickly, dropping the empty syringes into the sharps container and then proceed to run to complete the tasks. When there was an emergency that was labelled "terrorist related" on American soil it was all hands on deck. And even if it wasn't terrorist related, if it was bad enough to be labelled such, then it had to be bad.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Waking again in a place she didn't know was becoming an annoying and unsettling habit. There were IV fluids running, but she couldn't make out the writing on the bag that would tell her what was being filtrated into her body. The nasal gastric tube was somewhat irritating. She was attached to an obs machine that occasionally pumped up taking her blood pressure. Groaning she attempted to sit up. Finding nothing restraining her she was able to swing her feet around and dangle them over the bed.

The room was rather small. There was a window that was boarded up but a few cracks of light were streaming through. There was a small generator humming somewhat quietly away in the corner, the machines she was hooked to were drawing their power from it. The carpet was filthy, and obviously the people who dwelt here didn't bother to take their shoes off when they entered a practice that was considered rude and impolite where she came from. Of course, who amongst her tribe's kaumātua would be unforgiving of this tapu? She disconnected the tubing from her luer and unwrapped the BP cuff. Unsteady on her aching feet, she stood. A table sat against the wall under the window, atop it was a ceramic jug with several chips around the lip; it was half full of what she figured was water, despite the fragments of dirt that floated in it and the light brown colour. Next to the jug was a coffee mug that had the handle broken off. There were a few bundles of medical supplies that gave her the impression that who ever had hooked her up didn't really know what they were doing. She wondered how someone ignorant could get a luer in. Perhaps a medic had helped then had moved on. She wondered what next to do, she noticed the door slightly ajar, either because it had always been that way or had become damaged in the recent "events".

Not wanting to just stay in this room she realised the only other option was out that door. It didn't make a sound when she pushed it open; she noticed a thick coating of oil on the hinges. Stepping out into the corridor she found it dark as the windows here were also boarded up. There was a strong smell of dampness and something much fouler she couldn't place her finger on and probably didn't want to. Holding her left arm out to feel for the wall she guided herself down the dark passage towards a small stream of light at ground level. Hopefully a door into another room and not to the outside world of horror.

The door also cared for and didn't creak as she opened it into a living room. Again, the windows boarded up. The room was completely empty and there were no signs that anyone had been here recently. No food. No empty packets. No blankets. No medical supplies. An old crate that perhaps once held fruit sat in the middle of the room, a long since extinguished candle jammed into a beer can. An old bamboo chair sat slowly rotting away in the far right corner; it had a cushion upon it that was faded, worn and fraying. There was an empty blue bucket next to the chair, covered in spider webs told her it hadn't been touched for some time. There were three other doorways in the room, one she guessed led outside given the style of the entrance. Another led into the kitchen, it was wide open and the hung from the bottom hinge, the top hinge having rusted through. The third door led into a bathroom which she noted was probably where the strong stale urine smell was wafting from. Anyone with any semblance of experience in social circumstances would know that this place had not recently been used. So who had placed her in that bedroom hooked up to machines that had provided her sustenance and relief? Walking through the rest of the house, going into each room provided no further answers. She knew it had been a long time since the day they arrived, but she believed that this house had been derelict for much longer. Possibly being used by squatters or drug dealers and crack Hos.

She stood in the kitchen, in its hay day it would have certainly been something some housewife was proud of. Rangimarie imagined a happy woman puttering about in here making casseroles and cakes and all manners of homemade delights for her family. A scene that could have played out at any time of Western civilisation perhaps. The colouring on the tiles and lampshades convinced her the house had been built in or renovated to reflect the late 70s. The now accepted as unpleasant pastel colours and bright oranges and light red browns. The sink was filthy and plugged with dirt, more spider webs and a substance best not thought about. There was a broken milk bottle sitting on the sink, it in the same condition as the rest of the house. The stove was heavily damaged, burned, singed and covered in the remains of what must have been a drug fire. If she had entered this place before the day of robots she would have worried about the noxious and carcinogenic affects of what she was breathing in, but considering what she'd pulled into her lungs recently – this didn't seem so bad. The curtains were faded and ripped, the left one was missing completely. The windows were boarded up, but the glass in the left pane was gone completely, the right was badly broken. There were no other items in the room. She walked to the back door and placed her hand on the old handle. An obviously rusted key was stuck in the lock, while the dead bolt and chain hung by a screw. If she opened the door, if she stepped outside, if she found her death waiting in the back yard, well, then so be it. She couldn't walk around this aged home contemplating the lives of those who had been.

The handle gave some resistance, it whinged loudly as she pulled it downwards, but it eventually opened the door for her. She noticed as she walked through the gap the wood was rotting in most of the frame. The hinges were damaged, but sustained the weight of the internally rotten door. Marie found herself in an enclosed porch area. It held a little more furniture then the rest of the house combined. Three old deck chairs, one the material stretched across the seat was ripped completely in half. The one next to it was completely collapsed, the metal legs being bent in an unstable angle – but with no signs of rust. Perhaps the result of over zealous children, or drunken adults? The 3rd chair looked like it could have come right out of storage of an elderly woman who kept everything and ironed even her sheets. While the material was faded, the blue and red stripes were obvious. The legs were somewhat pristine bar a small speck of dirt on the white left plastic armrest. It invited her to sit down, her legs certainly would not have protested, but given the age and damage to its companions she decided against – concerned there could be structural failures it didn't outwardly display. A large wooden coffee table sat in the middle of the porch, while covered in scratches and dents it still looked as though it would fetch a good price on eBay. Actually, the damage it bore gave it that "lived" look. Rangimarie liked her furniture to have that look, something that said "hey, I witnessed a life, the lives of families and their friends, I have so many stories to tell!" It gave the room a conversational piece. It was certainly something she wouldn't just pass by if she saw it in a shop or stall at a farmers' market. There was a standing light in one of the corners, the lamp shade was missing, and the light bulb blackened. The lamp's cord was frayed and while plugged in, she would never risk turning it on. There was a book case next to the lamp with all manner of bits and bobs, things that seemed out of place – like the topless hula dancer and the empty bottle of perfume with the price tag still displaying the $500 it was apparently worth. While the beer mug on display with a brand name she didn't recognise and was awfully faded seemed to perhaps be something a child could have given for Fathers' day. A punch set was proudly displayed on the middle shelf at hand level. A gentle floral motif around the bowl and matching cups. A vase with that blue swallow Chinese design was on the top shelf and she could just see a small wobble to the shelf causing it to topple down and smash on the concrete floor covered with the bright green lino.

Standing at the door that led outside to the yard gave her a true sadness. How many times had young children gone running through the house, passing parents in the porch area and rushing through this door to play in the yard? Had those children grown into adults who were now lay slaughtered at the feet of those metallic beasts? Or perhaps they were just young adults, in college, university or trying to figure out where they belonged in this big kaleidoscope called life? She shrugged off the depression those thoughts were starting to produce, pushed open the door and walked out.

The grass in the yard was over grown, the occasional yellow flower belonging to a species of weed she couldn't recall the name of popped out amongst the dingy green colouring. The fence that surrounded the yard was an ancient wood that didn't look like much was holding it up. A shed sat in the far right corner, an open door moving gently on its somewhat enlightened hinges. A rusted swing and slide set sat near by what was once a vegetable garden. And a large wood pile sat in the left corner providing a home to the many bugs near by. The area it seemed was so derelict as to not have come to the notice or bother of those machines. Of course, who knew with their timing? Perhaps they were on their way right now and those who had helped her became aware of this and vacated quickly?

Rangimarie had walked around the house and stood on the footpath in front of the property. The surrounding structures gave further proof to her notion of a simply abandoned neighbourhood. A rush of paranoia overcame her, why was this place abandoned? A toxic waste dump under foot causing horrendous foetal defects and cancers in children? Perhaps asbestos? Maybe a little too close to a 50s nuclear testing ground? Of course, there could simply have been a resource that after time was stripped mined and those living here lost their jobs then moved on to the next gold line or oil pool. Perhaps a recession in the economy? Recalling history, perhaps the 80s stock market crash had hit these people hard? Who knew?

This of course led her on to her next phrase of thought… where did she go to from here?

Kaumātua – elders

Tapu – sacred practice, sacred, respected


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

As she walked past an aged and abandoned school she gave thought to the fact of what if those who had assisted her returned and found her gone? What would they do? Panic? Worry? Shrug it off? Consider her path? As Rangimarie couldn't figure any which way what was going on currently she couldn't really be too concerned. She had simply turned left and walked to the end of the street. She found herself on a main road of some description and continued along until maybe 40 minutes later she found herself walking passed the old school.

Other then the outward signs of age, wear and tear, there was no evidence the robots had moved through here. It caused her a harrowing thought – were they that twisted that they could simply go after settlements where human causalities would be an inevitably? If they were really after all these resources, why not have a go at these old places? Gather up all these old wooden beams and use it for fire wood to fuel furnaces to melt down the aged metal and steel building supports? There really wasn't anyway she could comprehend these mongrels and their MO so decided not to contemplate it any further.

It felt like about an hour had past when she started to feel worn down and further exhausted. The best bet, she contemplated, was to find someplace quiet and inconspicuous to hide and sleep. She was now walking through aged industrial relics of decades past. Obviously whatever this factory had churned out had run out or the owners had lost money and the place had closed, causing all those who lived near by to loose their livelihood. Had she not been so fatigued she would have looked for a place not to inviting or useful to the invaders. A factory, no matter how run down, could provide a reliable means to further rape the planet. Noting a small series of buildings near to the factory she decided to go take a nap in whatever shack she could find her way into.

All the doors were locked, but she found entrance by clambering in through a glass window. The smaller buildings were obviously used by managers or paper pushers working for this facility. The structure she found herself in was of the style of the late 60s, but the only calendar she found had the year 1984 stamped across it. Either this was dropped accidentally when they moved from here, or the facility shut down in 84. Either way, she didn't think it mattered much now. An old desk with a broken leg slumped in the corner and was the only object in the entire room. Feeling sleep call to her she decided to stop focussing on furniture and try to get some rest. She curled down on the floor, noting and ignoring a hint of phlebitis around her luer site, shutting her eyes she let sleep claim her, if only for a few hours.

The roughly woven carpet made of cheap wool brutally treated and poorly coloured kept her from truly getting into the mode of sleep where everything else disappeared from reality. In her state of near unconsciousness she found herself back on day one, the day that would scar her till her final breath – however that moment came.

"Okay… okay. Sir? SIR!? You need to calm down, okay. I hear what you're saying. And I understand that you're upset because you're having to wait for so long for treatment. But I need you to understand that there are other people who are very seriously injured and they get first priority. Now, if it was your family member or you in that situation, would you want first in line or would you want to wait while we helped the man who was in the waiting room making the most noise?"

She remembered all her skills from conflict resolution and tried to calm the very unhappy man down. It seemed to work and he sat back in his seat, holding the bandage around his lacerated hand.

"Okay! Everyone, listen up!"

She clambered up onto one of the chairs and held her hands up to the people in the A&E waiting room.

"We all know how upset, anxious, and hurt you all are. But there are other people who are in an even worse state! We need to help them first. Then we will get to you. The nurse in that small room there will access your injuries and some of you maybe able to go to your own local GP or clinic for assistance".

There were some groans and grumbles, but generally the public accepted her reprimand. She seemed somewhat annoyed and returned to the A&E floor to assist the many injured and the doctors who were trying to save them.

"Hey! Marie! We need an emergency blood transfusion in six, can you get some O neg from the blood bank because our damn orderlies are all pissing about".

One of the other nurses asked, Marie nodded and took off towards the blood bank.

Pandemonium was running roughshod all through the corridors. People were on beds in the halls, others splayed out over benches and some were on the floor with a pillow. There were so many injured. Mostly burns, broken bones and lacerations. The blood bank she realised was going to be rushed off their feet, and she hoped like hell there'd be enough to go round. Of course, she'd heard from one of the senior consultants on the floor that they had initiated triaging in which there would be a large number of fatalities. If anyone had black, white or red tag on them were pretty much going to be dead unless they got help from the state in here immediately. Black meant they were dead or so close to it that it wouldn't matter; white meant they'd die quickly unless given a large amount of time and resources, whereas red meant if things eased or state help arrived then they'd be assisted. Anyone with a green tag could wait; anyone with an orange was urgent and would most likely survive with the assistance they could provide. The damn social workers and mental health team hadn't arrived in reception yet to start assisting with the emotional needs of those waiting.

The nurse passed a pile of bodies stacked up against a wall near the blood bank, the doors had been magnetically locked over and the amount of staff in there was just amazing. There were bags of blood stocked up in piles labelled with their type and Rhesus factor.

"Hey, Marie! You here for blood?"

"Yeah, no kidding!"

She replied somewhat sarcastically as it was pretty damn obvious as to her reasons for being here. Of course, he could be the one being sarcastic. Regardless neither of them made further comment and she grabbed a few of the O negs, noticing there wasn't a lot left.

On return to the A&E she entered into the cubicle with the blood needing man and began the infusion.

"They'll kill us all".

He stated calmly, matter of factly as he watched her connect the line to his luer.

Under normal circumstances she'd have to sit with him for at least 30 minutes to ensure no reaction took place to the blood the machine was now pumping into his body. However, if he did react, well, she couldn't do much, stopping the infusion could help, but the adrenaline was in short supply. But his comment gave her a shudder.

"Who will kill us all?"

She said as she plugged the machine into the wall to ensure the battery wouldn't flatten and stop the transfusion.

"Those monsters. Those horrible, horrible monsters".

"Oh. Okay".

She stated. She couldn't do much else, so left.

She ran into one of the doctors in the hall, he was covered in blood and in the process of changing gloves.

"I think there might have been some form of gas attack affecting the brain, or something".

She stated to him as she changed her gloves.

"Yeah. I was thinking that. Everyone with the worst injuries who were close to the blasts they're all going on about giant monsters and such".

"What you wanna do?"

She asked.

"Get Liz to contact the CDC and FEMA and get Liz to give them a list of the symptoms and how many of the patients are experience…"

He was running off down the hall towards where there were doctors screaming his name.

Marie turned and ran off towards reception passing several extensively burned children, all of whom had white tags around their charred wrists. A woman who was possibly their mother sat trying to comfort them. She too wore a white label, a pool of blood around her on the floor told the young nurse she was bleeding internally in massive quantities that could not be stopped with their limited resources and large causality number.

The nurse barked the order to Liz, the secretary, and then took off towards two nurses who were motioning for her.

The room was meant for only one patient. Now, the room was filled with at least 10 patients and four of them were being worked on in the centre, the other 6 were on plastic sheets on the floor. There was blood everywhere and the stench of burnt flesh wasn't being effectively cleared by the air-con. The rubbish bins that would have been emptied by the cleaners were now overflowing with dirty gloves, bloodied bandages and all manner of other medical equipment that had been used one to many times. ECG machines, portable X-rays, fluid pumps and a portable CT machine were further adding to the clutter, splattered with blood and smeared handprints belonging to staff who grabbed them quickly without washing.

A man on the floor had suffered a CVA.

"Marie, give us a hand getting this guy out, he's stroked on us and I've upgraded him to white".

Marie grabbed the man's legs; her charge nurse grabbing the arms, the two women hauled him out into the hall and un-ceremoniously flicked him against the wall. He groaned somewhat when he hit the hard tiles but they had no time to offer compassion as they had to grab the next orange to take into the room. A woman with a piece of metal through her upper arm 3rd degree burns to her hand.

Another nurse joined them with a makeshift amputation kit. The nurses were in the situation now where they had a lot more autonomy and the disaster policy at the hospital allowed for RNs to act out of their scope of practice in such an event. Marie cut the woman's remaining clothes off while her charge rubbed an alcoholic handwash over the bone saw and scalpel. The other nurse, a woman with only one year experience post grad was tying the tunicae to the patient's arm. While waiting for the woman's arm to go blue the three nurses attended to other patient's in the same situation. Another man already prepped for the draconian procedure was held down by Marie and the other nurse while the charge simple sliced into his leg with the scalpel. The man screamed loudly – a good sign in their books, the charge followed through with the bone saw and took his leg off from just above the knee. If Marie had seen the limb unattached from the body she would never have guessed its origin given the mangled state of it. The charge grabbed the remains and tossed it into a yellow biohazard bag sitting near by. Marie and the other nurse began to clean, dress and bind the stump. The charge cleaned the implements and two orderlies appeared and carried the man out into another room. When Marie passed the yellow bag to get to the next patient she noticed it was full of removed limbs and other such human parts. Huge pools of blood oozed from it and there was blood splatter on the walls and ceiling. She hated to think what the ramifications would be if someone amongst the injured had AIDs.

They were so overwhelmed.

Marie spent the next seven hours with the charge and the other nurse hacking off limbs. Bag after bag of remains were hauled out and turfted in the front parking lot. A TV in the nurses' station aimed out into the waiting area on the floor for patients still received no signal, and hadn't since this mess began. No help had arrived and the duty managers and other hospital bureaucrats had now given up their cushy office jobs and were working as orderlies on the floor.

It was around this time they started to contemplate there wasn't help coming. Early on into the disaster there were occasional explosions that sounded like a far away plane or car backfiring, but as the day progressed the noise of destruction increased. More and more people were being tagged white and black and around the 18 hour mark patients who would have been tagged orange and cared for with some semblance of hope of recovery were now being given black. More and more burns, fractures, crush injuries, lacerations and all patients rambling about monsters and giant people cars. Marie for the greater part of the shift ignored their statements, fobbing them off as simple hysteria, gas related insanity or people having heard rumours and getting the wrong end of the stick. However, her opinion on the matter was about to change.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Marie had always been a firm opponent of no shifts longer then 8 hours, as research showed drug errors increased over 50% after the 8th hour. She'd worked 10 hours before when they were short staffed, but never, EVER, near the time that she noted was bowling up. The electronic clock on the wall had stopped at some point during her time there but she had no way of knowing and didn't think it mattered as she glanced down at her blood splattered fob watch. She scratched some of the blood off so she could see the time.

0724hrs the day after that event began.

"MARIE!! WE'RE GETTING AMBOS IN!! GET OUT TO THE LOADING BAY!"

A doctor screamed from the end of the hall. Another doctor was with him and she ran to meet them.

They'd magnetically locked the doors open so she ran straight through and out onto the loading bay. The ambulance was screaming up towards them, and it didn't seem to be slowing down.

"Hey… why isn't he slowing down?"

The doctor to her right asked.

"I dunno… maybe the breaks are out".

The other medical officer said.

"Maybe we…"

She intended to finish with "…should move out of the way", but had no time as the ambulance swerved towards the three humans. None of them had even anytime to swear, she was able to jump out of its path, the doctor to her right was not as lucky as the ambulance revved and jumped up onto the bay, ploughing through the doctor and then pivoting sharply taking out the other. She staggered up from her position and ran into the building. The driver wouldn't be able to take the ambulance much further, but being a terrorist he'd probably plough into the building as some kind of suicide attack. The thought in her mind that it was indeed a terrorist group causing this amount of carnage. If the bastard could run down doctors then she doubted he'd re-think his theological slant if he found himself in the middle of the over extended A&E.

Marie made it onto the main floor and was about the inform her charge nurse that they were now two doctors down when a massive crash rang out from behind. She was knocked over by something and turned to view the source of the noise. Probable the terrorist had slammed into the building. What she saw next gave her such chills she would not have been surprised if her temperature dropped 5 degrees. The ambulance had smashed through the walls and was skidding to a halt in front of the nurses' station. Then it unfolded into a massive robot.

"What the fuck is that?"

She heard her charge screech, the first time she'd ever heard the old skool nurse use such language, well, at least in the professional setting.

Her cry would be her last as it grabbed the attention of the white robot with red markings. He turned, scooped up a section of the collapsed wall and threw it at the woman. It must have been travelling at over 200kms an hour when it hit her, there would be very little left of her. The masonry continued at speed, taking out other humans, staff and patients alike, before it ripped through at least two more rooms and their walls. This assault on the structural integrity of the facility caused part of the floor above to collapse downwards, bringing with it beds, patients and staff. All would be later killed if they hadn't expired or ready. Marie stood quickly, amazed she wasn't injured by the robot's attack and decided to get the hell out else she would loose that amazement.

If she had considered the catastrophe in the A&E prior to this current turn of events the robot massacring the patients and her colleagues now gave way to a much worse state of affairs. Marie began running towards the double doors that led into a corridor that was the arterial route of the hospital, taking those who walked its long floor to wards, out patient clinics and other facilities. She made it too the doors and found other staff had thought along the same lines and were magnetically locking the door open and leading near by people to what would hopefully be an exit. She gave one last look over her shoulder and witnessed the creature now slamming its red painted fists into anyone it could reach, and given its size that was quite a lot. A pang of guilt struck her as she noticed the war machine start in on those lying on the ground, the injured, the dying. So they were all right. There was no nerve gas or mass hysteria – there were giant robots however. No time now to consider these things, she took off running down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Marie had worked on wards in understaffed and under resourced hospitals before, she had seen what "busy" was and she'd seen what "insane" was, but what met her in the halls was something she'd never viewed, never witnessed and would probably never see again – for reason of being killed or humanity being wiped out. Her thoughts were disordered and without purpose as she realised the fight or flight reflexes were kicking in and taking over the higher processes of her brain. Bodies lay stacked up against walls; amongst them were the soon to be deceased, barely alive and reaching up with shattered arms and missing fingers. Their whimpers were wracked with pain and pleading with the staff and walking wounded who were able to run past. Not so much leaving them to the certain death that would follow, but rather their instincts were selfish for their own evolutionary built in desires to survive. Marie didn't even stop to help the above middle aged doctor who slipped in a mess of intestines that had leaked out of a near by child. He fell and would soon be engulfed in the flames that were sprinting down the corridor which acted as a furnace's chimney without any windows or doors for the fire to be lessened by. It licked at her heals, she didn't' dare look behind to see its origin. Inwardly, of course, she knew the location. But fear of slipping or tripping over someone or something prevented her from viewing what she knew was coming.

There were a group of staff waiting for an elevator, they were panicked stricken. One, an ICU nurse was slamming her fist on the UP button. Marie realised the insanity of it all, there was no way in hell that elevator would arrive in one piece, and even if it did she wouldn't get in it for fear of damage or further destruction. One of her group cried out to them to run, but their statement was unheard as the machine appeared at the end of the corridor. It was holding what looked like a rather large gun in its hand and it quickly proved that theory true as it aimed it towards the group at the elevator and fired. Marie was on the tail end of the blast and didn't get enough of it to cause any lasting injury, but it did render those at the elevator to ash. She watched as the flesh burned right off their bones and finally the skeletons crumbled into dust. The blast continued and slammed into the elevator shaft sending a stream of fire up through the buildings mid section. There were multiple explosions from above and chunks of masonry and wads of steel began falling into the small foyer. Black smoke filled the area quickly, sticking to the blood covered surfaces of the walls and what remained of the ceiling. It was so oppressive. She dropped to the ground as most were doing, coughing, wheezing and generally trying to pull what very little oxygen was left into her lungs. She scrambled across the debris ridden floor, noticing the feet of the creature moving towards another part of the corridor, thankfully away from her.

She stayed low, remembering her fire safety training. Crawling over debris proved uncomfortable, but it was when she felt her hands in sticky messes that she didn't feel too well. Even with the acrid smoke lingering so close she still able to pick up on the stink of human death and suffering. The burning bodies and scorched lumps of flesh and the masses of blood spilt. The smell was so overwhelming. Something inside her prevented her from vomiting or even dry retching… probably her job. She could see a split of light up ahead, hopefully the exit. The building wobbled and noises gave early warning that perhaps this place wouldn't stand for much longer. She was suddenly on uneven ground; it was the steps leading up to the main entrance of the wards. Marie staggered up onto her feet and turned to look back at the hospital. The elevator shaft which delivered the fire to every level had truly slaughtered the building. There was a raging inferno up on the roof, most likely where it erupted out. The majority of levels were simply engulfed; people were jumping from windows, while others stood on the windowsills hoping for help that would never come for them. Bodies lay strewn about broken by gravity, while others had been broken by that thing. A massive explosion from towards the left knocked her down. She tilted her head in the direction and realised the oxygen and gas store must have finally been reached by the flames. The strength of the explosion and the resulting shock waves further assaulted the hospital which could withstand no more. IT started to collapse inwards. The young woman knew damn well then to stand around here would mean death, she turned and pushed her aching body away from the downing structure. It was such an overwhelming sound, the crunching of steel, the crushing of stone, the smashing of glass and the roar of the flames that continued to burn throughout. She inwardly laughed at the creature who would be destroyed in this place.

Half way down the street the cloud of dust from the hospital reached her, she was quite surprised how quickly she was able to rush from the collapsing structure. The muck enveloped her and the heavy soot forced itself down her trachea, burning her lips and filling her nasal sinus with grit. She coughed violently, and fell forward over something on the road. The shape, size and softness of it told her it had been human. She landed hard on the asphalt of the road, its rough surface grazing her hands and knees. The tar in the road was warming up swiftly, and while currently wasn't at a temperature to bother her it was disconcerting as she noticed she was sinking somewhat into it. Pulling her hands out of the goo she rubbed it down her pants, the tar too stubborn to completely peal away from her skin. A loud woshing sound started up behind her and was increasing in its volume. She ducked right down and covered her head with her hands, still sticky with the blood soaked tar. A series of human screams made their way to her hearing across the general orchestra of violence inflicted upon the city. Inwardly aware that laying her any longer could result in her end, and not sure if that's what she wanted at this point, decided to err on the side of caution, stood but bent low and ran.

The dust clouds mixed through with heavy smoke tapered out and some part of her brain gave her legs permission to slow to an unsteady amble. There were other people who had obviously thought the same as her and the herd seemed to slow to a confused stop. No one seemed to be taking charge, perhaps no one wanted to. She was always taught that as a nurse she'd generally be the first port of call in an emergency or disaster if people identified her as an RN. Whether or not she believed it, wanted it or half expected it, the people around her still seemed like lost sheep and none paid attention the filthy scrubs and nurses' badges she wore. Turning to face the cloud she could see it was wrapping upwards as it twisted in between the buildings and was sucked in through open windows on multi-story buildings. Aside from a few fires burning in the occasional building and several overturned cars there really wasn't any considerable damage to the local buildings. Perhaps these beasts were only interested in the centre of the city, perhaps they only wanted to scare the native populace out of the CBD, or perhaps it was someone's science experiment gone horribly wrong. She realised this probably wasn't' the best time to contemplate on the origin of these damn things. Instead she figured the best course of action was to get the hell away from here as quickly as possible, if anyone else decided to follow her, well, so be it. While pushing as politely as possible through the throng of weary eyed people she became aware of a slight rumbling. It moved deep at first, under the ground at a level most would not be aware of, but it slowly moved upwards, making itself known to those who stood above. Having grown up on a fault line she was quite well tuned to the wobbles that Gaia would send their way. Yet, there was something unnatural about it. The way the rumbles occurred, the way they traversed through the ground and along, it was rhymic, so logical and so precise. There was no way it originated from the fickle behaviour of earth's tectonic plates. Given the absolute carnage about her, she wasn't going to take any risks with hanging around to find out exactly what was causing the low murmurs reverberating downwards into the core of the earth. Rangimarie wasn't sure how she should go about getting as far away from here as possible. There was some kind of pain in some part of her body but it wasn't blatant enough to let her know the specifics. Even if she could name it, point to it, or even acknowledge it she really had no time to sit down and write up a damn care plan. She took a few running steps between an elderly man and an equally elderly woman, perhaps his wife? They were holding hands. Maybe siblings. Eventually it wouldn't matter she realised as she found herself putting more and more ground between the group of lost.

After getting about 50 metres from the masses she skidded to a halt on some unsteady gravel as she rounded a corner. Stopping so abruptly caused her to loose a semblance of balance and she dropped to one knee. While connected with the ground she could feel that rumble intensify. A huge explosion ripped up from the buildings behind her. The screams of those who had survived the fireball started to ring out once again, the previous exhaustion of running had subsided enough that their fear was able to explode fourth. There was a strange sound that seemed to drown out the cries and the roar of fires. The young woman couldn't identify it, and wasn't going to as she didn't see the point in wasting thought on what the noises in a city being destroyed by robots were. She caught her breath, regained her composure, her balance and took off running down the footpath towards the outskirts of the city. Maybe three metres later was when she realised she was flying. A force she couldn't identify was pushing her upwards, the toes of her shoes scrapping along the road, a burning heat intensified against her back. Landing hard against a brick wall was less then comfortable, but the following shock wave collapsed the wall significantly enough that the force with which she hit it wasn't enough to cause any serious damage. Pushing herself up out of the rubble proved a little difficult as her hands kept loosing their grip as the fragments and larger chunks moved about. She managed to turn herself around to face the direction of the blast. There in the burning fires stood a large maroon robot. A huge gun protruding from its chest. It was firing excessively into buildings, structures and groups of people. Even parks with their large trees were not spared his explosive tendencies.

"HA HA HA HA!!! KA-POW! WELCOME TO DEATH! KA-BLEWY! STUPID FLESH CREATURES! SMASH! BANG!"

It screamed as it slammed its fists into nearby buildings. Very few people who had survived the flames of its laser started fires had lived long enough to see this monstrosity. It turned towards her direction and began firing again. The young woman decided it'd be best to get the hell away from here. She clambered up over the smouldering dirt and started to stumble from what could end her existence on this unfortunate world. A whistling sound suddenly attacked her hearing and she wasn't quite sure what the origin was, whether it was an insect, damage to her delicate human audio receptors or if it was the sourced from one of those creatures. It turned out to be one of those creatures. The red plane suddenly came flying straight at the ground, it strafed along the road, striking people who were wandering along in a dream state filled with poignant nightmares. They were struck down so easily. So fragile was human life it really didn't stand a chance against these things. Rangimarie dived flat and covered the back of her head and neck with her shaking hands. Blood dribbled over her fingers and she was afraid to take notice of where it was from. Was it her's or that of another?

Turned out it belonged to the series of limbs that now began raining down on her, torn from their owners by the inferno that was poured down upon them from the red plane that punctured the sky like a needle into a vein. The crimson tide of blood continued to splatter her, its coppery stink lingered in her nostrils as she cautiously lifted her head. Looking around her proved to be a decision that would in years to come cost her her sanity. The body parts lay so randomly about her form that if any looked down from her they might be hard pressed to determine that she was still living, especially considering the amount of blood she was drenched in. As it were, there wasn't anyone looking over her, given that variable she decided to continue on her way to get the hell out.

Crawling under the chain link fence that surrounded a construction yard proved more difficult then cartoons would have her believe. Once she was standing on the otherside looking up at the badly damaged incomplete building she started to wonder if she'd make it to the next sun rise. The metal frame and concrete foundation was badly warped and singed, whether it was intentional or simply damaged by the heat of the explosions and force of shockwaves, it was still a bad sign. Running quickly along the fence line seemed to get her closer to some safe destination and further away from the worst of the mess. There was a small portable metal shed snap locked together sitting against the fence, obviously the construction office. The door was partially opened, part of the door melted significantly and blood smeared against the walls. A body that looked like it belonged to the foremen lay a half in the office… well… half of him did. His chest was torn open, his organs missing. His head was a few metres to the left of the office along with a large pile of corpses, obviously those that had worked here. It was truly a mess.

Rangimarie took a few moments and then decided to enter the office, hoping for a bottle of water or a can of coke, anything to wet her dry mouth, or at the very least wash the damn taste of dust, ash and flesh from tongue. The small building creaked as she entered; there was a moment where she questioned whether she had done the right thing. The structural integrity of this building could be questionable under the current circumstance. The bottle from the water cooler lay behind the desk, it was partially emptied, maybe 200mls remaining. Marie happily picked it up, leaving bloody hand prints and messy smears around the transparent plastic. She glugged down the last drops and was very satisfied. It was amazing how a few mouthfuls of water could revitalise a human. It gave her further gusto to continue on her escape. She turned to go the door, placing the bottle on the floor. It was then she realised of the relative lack of noise that surrounded the wrecked construction yard. It was somewhat quiet. She walked out and stood there. The silence seemed uneasy, almost unnatural. Was something coming? Or had those somethings passed onwards? Having slaughtered everyone and destroying everything of interest in this immediate area?

Yes. It was uneasy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

She was awake from her dream state now, well, nightmares. Sitting up she rubbed her neck. An ache had made itself known to her upon waking. Rangi was used to sleeping on the most uncomfortable of mattresses. It was in Maori culture that when visiting other Maraes the visitors would sleep in the Wharenui. A large hall or room where they would lay mattresses next to each other and they would all rest together. There were a few things about it she wasn't a big fan of – if it was in the warmer parts of the year the Wharenui would get damn hot. And most of her aunties snored. Loudly. The young woman noticed a cockroach scuttled across the age stained carpet. Groaning suddenly she grabbed her head as the stabs of dehydration induced headache made itself known. Maybe it was time to start looking for something to eat, drink or talk too, preferably something that wouldn't crush her into a crimson mush. Perhaps the caution needed to navigate this place would drag her focus from her physical needs.

It was probably midday; it was hard to decipher time without a watch and without a good view of the sun. The sky was murky with the usual devastation, yet at the same time it held a certain dim normality to it which in peace time she would have taken as a rain warning. She'd found easy exit from the factory through what had probably served as its truck entrance leading to the loading docks. Walking along the old road gave more evidence to her suspicion that this town had shut down many years before these creatures appeared. A series of old trees and the corner of a heavy brick fence gave herald to the graveyard. Abandoned town or not, she didn't' feel comfortable wandering along roads, but on the other hand, cemeteries were Tapu. Yet, she doubted there was an utu upon this land, it was probably laid down by secular individuals who believed not in the afterlife or any kind of spiritual landscape. Of course, just because people didn't believe in evolution didn't make that false. She found the gate and pushed it gently, the heavy chains that had bound the gates had fallen free many years prior and lay coiled around the vertical metal bars. Perhaps the padlock had been busted or someone had taken it, or perhaps the groundskeeper had just forgotten to finish locking up. Regardless, she found entrance easy.

The cemetery was usual for this culture, and the most recent grave she could find belonged to someone who had died 3rd June, 1988. Of course, the place was large enough that someone could have been buried after that time, but she didn't have the luxury of searching for it. Instead she wandered along the cobbled pathway overgrown with moss and grass. The trees had died at some stage in the last few decades and their scratchy branches rubbed against each other creating an unsettling noise. It certainly didn't help the pain in her head. She longed for some form of opioids. Hell, at this stage she'd even take a placebo! Of course, given that she didn't even have a sip of water she probably needed to consider her priorities. As she past through the children's cemetery she noted pots of faded flowers and small toys and windmills. It gave rise to the hope that perhaps somewhere in this resting place was a tap with working plumbing. On the other side of a dead hedge encompassing a memorial for still born babies was a shack. It had a spade lying against an overturned bin near the door. She walked up the step and tried the door. It was locked. As she tried the handle again she noticed a deadbolt and heavy padlock about 10cm above the handle. She groaned inwardly, and stepped back off the porch. That's when she noticed the tap. It protruded out of the ground; it was simply a metal pipe with the tap's head attacked. Given her recent run of luck she didn't expect it to work so was quite surprised when it spluttered to life and gave her a dark brown fluid. She let it run over her hands, it felt warm, had chunks of grit in it and stunk. The young nurse decided to let it run for a few moments to see if the water cleared. Thankfully it did and she was soon greeted with something that was drinkable. Cupping her hands she gulped down the water. It had a metallic taste, probably from sitting in dirty old pipes for decades, there was also a hint of staleness to it as well, but given she had very other choices open to her, she welcomed it regardless.

After having had her full she started considering her limited options. Sleeping in the graveyard of a foreign people who were not her tribe was just asking for trouble. Perhaps under the circumstances the souls of those who lay here would not hold it against her. Or perhaps she was just being superstitious, the teachings her great grandmother told her when she was a child were sitting at the forefront of her mind. Offering a prayer up for the appeasement of those who lingered here she wandered towards the brick wall that held the remains of those who had chosen fire to dispose of their earthly vessels.

There was a wooden box sitting to the left of the wall near a garden that had died years ago from lack of attention. In it were some empty jars and pots, obviously placed here for family and friends to take and place flowers in for their deceased loved ones. She examined a few before selecting some of the sturdier looking ones and she returned to the tap to gain some more water, at least for the rest of the night. She decided given her complete lack of run in with those monsters, that perhaps staying here for a few days at least might benefit her, or at least get her re-hydrated enough that this damn ache in her head departed her.

The sun was finally disappearing below the filthy horizon. She sat on the porch's steps drinking from what had once been a pickle jar, the label though peeling and faded still bore some markings that could be deciphered. About an hour of her afternoon had been spent trying to find a way into the hut, obviously since she sat outside she'd found none. She'd thought about hauling herself up onto the roof and trying to find some borer ridden slates she could pry off and squeeze through. Of course, she couldn't quite find the motivation for that level of energy required for the task. Instead she just decided to sit a few more moments enjoying the fact she wasn't running for her life or being tortured horribly for some alien's scientific curiosity… or sadism.

In the quiet moment things seemed almost normal. This could be any disused graveyard in any city, town or village in any civilisation. She leant against the support beam for the veranda's covering and gave thought to her friends and family, to those she'd probably never see again. If they were still alive what would they be doing at this exact moment? Well… given the time zones they were probably sleeping. Perhaps in some dirty hole in the ground, or in some basement cowering from those things, or perhaps asleep in some kind of slave labour camp? There was an anger that passed through her soul, she was so enraged that these damn things could just take what they wanted and slaughter whoever stood in their way. Obviously these creatures had a habit of such behaviour and deep in their minds were some arrogant over inflated sense of importance. She took the last sip of water in her pickle jar and placed it on the ground by the creaky wooden steps. She yawned, stretched her arms up, craned her neck then stood. Not enthused enough to climb up onto the roof she did, however, have energy in reserve to take another look around the cemetery, perhaps for a better hiding place – or at least one that could sustain a few decent blasts. Even though walking around a cemetery at the early stages of night was probably not the smartest thing to do, spiritually, at least it'd give her something to do until she was sleepy enough to manage rest.

Rangimarie stood at the far edge of the cemetery. On the other side of the rickety fence were the remains of an orchard. She wasn't sure what fruit had once flourished on these dead trees, even though the trees looked like they could re-grow their leaves if given the right care. She stepped up on a tree stump to get a better view about the region. It was definitely devoid of any real activity. Of course, the night time darkness shielded much from her vision. Hopping down from the stump she walked back to the shack.

Wharenui – sleeping house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The damp of the night had settled on her form, it was probably what woke her. Sitting up she was aware that although morning, it was still rather murky, she didn't need to think too long about what had caused that. There was a quick moment when she wasn't sure where she was or what was going on, but that moment passed. The cemetery was just as unsettling in as much light as the morning day could muster. She walked around the shack a few times just for something to do and to see if the early light could reveal a way in. Finding none she decided to find out more about this empty region.

It was coming up to midday and she still hadn't seen any sign of life. No human, no animal, no alien. Eternally grateful for the latter. There were a series of hills that gradually merged into mountains surrounding a series of overgrown pasture lands. There were occasionally some animal skeletons half buried, obviously having dropped where they died and the dust slowly blown over them. The overgrowth was browned from age and perhaps it was dead like so many other things. She ducked over the unsteady fence that partially surrounded one of the paddocks. Wandering through the waist high weeds was somewhat uncomfortable as they scratched against her hands and any other patch of exposed skin. Gradually the ground started to slant upwards as she began the steady climb up the gentler of hills. Hopefully if she got above her current eye line she might be able to view more of the area and get a better idea about where to go or where not to go as the case may be.

Finding the walk pleasant was a small blessing given the circumstances. She really started to wonder about why this place was so vastly abandoned. She hadn't seen any evidence, signage or burnt out facilities to question the environmental safety of this place. But just because she couldn't see a felled cooling tower didn't prove anything, there could be a huge nuclear waste dump metres under her feet! Maybe all the buildings were coated with asbestos. Stopping for a moment she contemplated if she'd already had this conversation with herself. Shaking her head she continued upwards. The top of the hill she was currently on gave her a beautiful view of the surrounding area. The mountains spread outwards across the north-west to north east views; the west view was for as far as she could see a barren wasteland covered with the skeletal remains of trees long since felled. Obviously the result of logging. The dead forest stretched somewhat down towards the southwest direction until eventually it merged into the pastoral lands which continued along the anti-clockwise direction around the compass. It was when her eyes lay east that she could see the structures of the town and its small industry. All of which she had wandered through and found nothing. Running along the other side of the hill she stood was a riverbed was a tiny slither of muddy filth that obviously passed as water here. She looked upwards towards the mountains and was able to notice the water fall. It was an incredibly high mountain and it just seemed to tear upwards into the sky. The hills around it did a good job at fooling the climber into a false sense of security in regards to the ease of the incline. She wondered how far up she could get, and so decided to try and find out. If anything, perhaps she'd find a cleaner source of water, not fouled by a trip down such a death visited mountainside.

About two hours up the mountain she found a small pool of water on a slight flattened area. It was a somewhat easy climb and she felt she could continue without too much distress but decided given the water supply she'd stop and have a drink. Test the quality. The trees that stuck out of the sides of the mountain were much like what surrounded it; however, she was able to see a few specks of green up from her position. The young Maori woman sat by the water and gave thanks to any deity that cared to listen. Her great grandmother had been what she'd refer to as "old skool", a woman who still adhered to beliefs and practices associated with the gods of old. Rangimarie placed her hands in the water and thought of the worst curse she could summon, she placed a Mataku upon the Autobots and whatever form their descendants took. She gave special attention to the Autobot scientist who had kept her in his lab and had caused pain, suffering and death to so many innocent. Mataku was probably too good a thing for that monster.

Cupping her hands in the water she drank another mouthful before sitting back against some rocky out shoots. She yawned, stretched her arms out and then noticed the cave. It was well below her eye level as she sat there, and well covered by some rocks and a bit of scraggly plant life that struck out from the dry surface. She stood and walked to it, crouching down and parting the plants she found the entrance just the right size for a human to squeeze into. She decided sleeping in there was probably safer then out on this rim. Looking down towards her feet for a moment she noticed a piece of flint. It seemed an odd place to find flint, or what looked like it. Seemed awfully convenient as well. Regardless, she picked it up. She gathered up some of the old dry weeds and a dry piece of wood, she made a rough torch then attempted to smash a spark from the flint. It'd be insane trying to go into a cave without some form of light, and not too well versed in American geography then it would probably save her a fractured pelvis. Eventually a spark ripped into the dry bundle and she decided to get into the hole as quickly as possible, in case someone with keen eyesight was looking in her direction from somewhere nearby.

Marie squeezed herself through the entrance and crawled along the small tunnel for about 50 metres, it went in at a downward slope, the light of her torch shone light for quite a distance ahead, which she was grateful for. She reached the end of the tunnel and found herself in a chamber the size of a normal living room. Perhaps 8 metres by 6 metres, with a height of just over 2 metres. She stood and stretched her legs, brushing some dust off. Holding the torch around the chamber she was able to see three other adjacent chambers, whereas another exit from the cave seemed to lead down a tunnel. Having come this far, and her torch still burning strong, she decided to head down the tunnel. Even if the torch burnt out, all she'd have to do is turn around and walk back the way she came. She left a rock by the tunnel she'd climbed in through here so she wouldn't waste her time poking about in the dark. The lack of animal life in these caves did lead her to continue her paranoid thought processes about this area being some kind of toxic waste dump, but who knew.

The torch lasted her until she'd just reached inside another large series of cabins. Deciding she best turn back, she dropped the torch so she'd be able to know she'd been here when she returned at some later date. She expected it to be pitch black but she was rather surprised at just how dark the caves were. She carefully navigated herself to pivot around so she'd be able to walk straight back.

Mataku – the worst kind of curse you can imagine. This often passes down through the generations and is very difficult to remove.

Utu – sort of revenge/curse/comeuppance.


End file.
